


Fortunate Encounter

by mutantfodder



Series: LISA AU [1]
Category: LISA (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, physical abuse implications, sexual abuse implications
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 02:23:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14607171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mutantfodder/pseuds/mutantfodder
Summary: When Lisa thought her life was no longer worth living, a glimmer of hope showed itself through the darkness.A collab between my friend Fourkov and I about how Lisa and Bernard first met. He wrote it, and I edited heavily.





	1. Two Cold Truths

It was quite simple, really. Lisa could play this scenario in a million ways, but this false dilemma ends with only one of two cold truths. Blankly staring at her doorknob, Lisa could feel her drive to eat slowly overpowering her will to remain still. She could sneak, run, and lie all she wanted, but it was just cheap tactics to just stall the inevitable. Her father was, simply put, a broken man. However, the faults within himself usually lead to deadly errors that would scar his daughter. Lisa hated this. Of course she hated her father Marty, but it went far deeper than that. Lisa could and would be beaten and abused everyday of her life. This disgusting aboherrence had slowly seeped into many other facets of her personality over time, irreparably damaging her psyche. She loathed her stupid stomach that asked for food, she cursed her inability to fight off the cold. But most of all, she simply  _ despised _ her life in general. The inability to change her life, coupled with this cycle of hate, made her tired. Lisa was tired of all these worthless games that won her jack shit. The tipping factor lied in the sad truth that she had no control to make her life less shitty. When the most negative thing in your life  _ is _ life itself, the question quickly follows: what's the point of living it?

Lisa slowly began to ache her hand towards the door. Halfway to the doorknob, her pale and frail arm started to shake. Violently. Lisa loathed this. Why must every action she make be a wrong move? Why doesn't she have the strength to fight? Why does she have no control over her life?

Eyes darting, she frantically tripped over her barren room to find  _ anything _ to calm her body. Eyes locking onto her bed stand, she saw a trickle of water left in her cup. Shaking all over, Lisa attempted to drink the water through her almost vibrating hands. Tightening her grip, she saw a small object popping out from under the bed stand. Carefully, she pulled out a long rope she had discovered behind the fridge a few days ago. The thought that had been plaguing her ever since its discovery reverberated through her mind once more:  _ There's always another choice.  _ Lisa perused over the rope for the hundredth time. It seemed old, but sturdy. No longer shaking, a new glint seemed to sputter ablaze in her eyes. The answer seemed laughable simple to her now. With her body kicking into overdrive, she quickly started to analyze her room, but this time she hoped it would be the last. Deep within her morose train of thought, a light  _ Ping!  _ sounded against her window. 

As if awakened, her eyes dilated, her breath slowed, and the pulse pounding rapid of her blood simmered back into a slow and somber creek. Creeping as slow as her somber creek, Lisa slunk to her window and peered outside, not unlike a phantom eyeing the living. The littered front yard didn't exhibit anything other than its usual dismal atmosphere, littered with trash. Despite this, Lisa scrutinized the yard closely. To the untrained eye, it may have looked like any old garbage strewn about, but Lisa knew this dump like the back of her hand; she had spent hours mindlessly analyzing its layout. To her surprise, a flash of blonde brilliance seemed to poke out every few moments; from the tires to the worn out ponchos, she could see someone poking through the wreckage. A small grimace crept onto her face.

Lisa had seen this boy around her neighborhood, but always from afar. Bernard was his name, but other than that, all she knew about him was that he was chucking rocks at her house. Lisa pulled the window up, and stared at the boy intensely from her perch.  The boy, seeing as he was spotted, straightened himself out, and stared back at her from the yard. Taking a closer look, Lisa noticed that boy was probably around the same age as her, with a blonde bowl cut and a slightly hunched bearing. In his clenched hand, an almost bursting brown paper bag dangled next to him, proudly advertising the fast food chain Wally Burger. 

Instantly, Lisa’s stomach jumped when she saw the logo. Despite this, she steadfastly kept her poker face on and stared down the boy. Lisa knew better than anyone that there was no such thing as a  _ free lunch _ , so she carefully plotted her next move.


	2. A Free Lunch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lisa's first encounter with Bernard isn't exactly graceful.

Bernard felt for the girl. Although he was young, Bernard had a sense of sympathy for her. Sure, his life was terrible, but at least he could go outside, attend school, and eat out once in a while; he could tell she was not as fortunate. Nicknamed “Strange girl” by his peers, Bernard would walk down an empty road every day on his way home, and every day, an enigmatic, sickly girl would watch him cross the street through her bedroom window before retreating out of sight. Today seemed to be different, however; the girl stayed put at the window, staring him down with an odd expression. Hoping to appeal to the strange girl, he took out his lunch he was saving and waved it at her. From what Bernard saw, the girl wasn't moving, and was wearing a vacant expression; she was either deep in thought or not thinking at all.

Feeling a little brave; Bernard darted underneath the widow. The girl drew back a little bit, then eyed him inquisitively. Smiling subtly, Bernard thought to himself, _well, I have her attention, at least_. With these positive reinforcements, Bernard tried something a little risque; outstretching his arms, he motioned for the strange girl to jump into his arms. He presented it as a joke, but he realized how dumb he looked almost immediately; as if on cue, the girl backed away from the window and out of sight again. Bernard cursed at himself for spooking the girl. How could he have been so rash?

Deep in his self punishment, he felt a distinct coolness overshadow him. To his surprise, a bony body blocked out the setting sun, sailing over Bernard. It was the girl! Bracing himself for impact, Bernard took a defensive stance he was taught, closed his eyes, and focused on absorbing the shock. Eyes closed, Bernard heard a sweeping _whoosh_ , followed by a crashing _bang_! He hesitantly opened his eyes and looked on in horror as he saw a bruised up girl writhing on a trash heap a few feet away.

“Oh god! I killed her!” Bernard hustled to the collection of ponchos and beer bottles to see the girl. Moving aside some trash, Bernard cleared the clutter, and was taken aback. The girl was sprawled out on a trash heap with her hands out to the side, almost like a crucifix; she reminded him of a dead possum. He couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not.

The second thing Bernard noticed was simply how stunning she looked to him upon closer inspection. This crazy girl’s skin looked as pale as the moon, with eye bags that reminded him of the waning form of said moon. Bernard dropped his lunch bag to the side and scrambled to see what he could do about the damage. He leaned in close, trying to remember what his grandma has taught him about first aid. Putting his fingers on her neck, he tried finding a pulse.

Upon contact, the girls eyes snapped open, and a left hook instantly connected with the soft part of his stomach. It wasn’t a very strong punch, but the sheer shock and pressure sent him reeling backwards, heaving to regain the wind she had knocked out of him. Seeing her sneak attack had worked without a hitch, Lisa snagged his lunch and sprinted off towards the woods by her house.

“ _I WAS GONNA GIVE IT TO YOU ANYWAY!”_ Bernard yelled after her, in between heaves, “GET _BACK HERE AND LET ME TALK TO YOU!”_ His mind started racing with questions as he helplessly watched her sprint in the opposite direction. _Who is this girl? Why did she purposefully miss jumping into my arms? Where did she learn to punch like that?_ Stumbling up, Bernard shook off the shock and started to give chase.

 

Lisa was just doing what came naturally. Playing dead was the oldest trick in the book, and she had executed the punch her brother had shown her flawlessly. She silently congratulated herself for how well she outplayed the boy. But, upon entering the forest, Lisa started to second guess herself. It was less of a victory for her, and more of a loss for the boy. He had purposely dropped his guard, seemingly giving up his stance to check on her. What did he have to gain from approaching her? Was he trying to bait her out back there? Shaking her head, she ran to the edge of the forest. In spite of never going outside, she had memorized the locale from a map she had seen years ago at a library, and from a time she had tried (and failed) to sneak out a few months back. At the edge of the forest was a cliff head, and on it, a lonely, shut down Wally Burger restaurant rose up from the natural scenery. 

At this point, a cool breeze had rustled through the trees, tickling her skin and flapping her comically oversized shirt: a simple white v-neck. After a few minutes of struggling to climb to the top of the old building, she reached the roof and lay back, pensively watching the sun set in the distance. Quickly, the temperature started to drop, and Lisa soon found herself shivering uncontrollably, the frigid wind blowing through her frail body. She dug into the bag and took out a now-cold cheeseburger to distract herself from the situation she had put herself in.

Despite the wear and tear, she scarfed it down in almost three bites. Lisa had hit the cold cheeseburger jackpot; one burger was usually enough for a day, and she saw over five crowding around in the bag. Lisa took a look at the stars, breathed in, and asked the cosmos a question: “Can I really have this for free?” As she felt her eyes close, she swore she heard the cosmos reply, “Sure, I wasn't gonna eat them anyway.”


	3. Rendezvous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bernard bonds with his strange new friend over cold cheeseburgers on an abandoned Wally Burger rooftop.

After hours of searching, Bernard was sure he had found the strange girl. A lone figure was laying on the old Wally Burger roof, with a suspiciously familiar bag next to them. This time he would take it very carefully, and he cautiously scaled his way onto the rooftop. The girl bolted up, clearly startled by his presence. Bernard, hoping he wouldn’t make her feel trapped, inched himself as far away from her as humanly possible on the roof.

The girl eyed him, and after a long, oppressive silence, voiced out a small squeak. “Hey.” Lisa reviled how weak her voice sounded, but couldn’t rouse herself to care too much. Bernard, on the other hand, felt a warmth spread inside him at hearing this elusive girl speak. “Hey yourself,” he began, “you gave me a nasty hook back there. Where the hell did you learn to punch like that?” Bernard inched closer, and although Lisa took a small jump, she didn't immediately flee upon this transgression. 

Instead of answering, she took a bite out of another cheeseburger, and hesitantly patted the ground beside her. Bernard was shocked at this tiny show of trust, and felt grateful to have this moment. Everything inside himself screamed to run and protect this girl, but Bernard learned the hard way that he would have to take it slow. He did a mock bow, and midway, heard a giggle from across the roof. Confused, Bernard looked up, and all he saw was the girl and her steely poker face. Bowing again, he heard another laugh! It reminded him a little of the bubbly creek he used to fish in near his house. At this point, Bernard started to frantically bow, and the giggles he heard turned into a full blown revelation of laughter! At this point, Bernard realized how dumb he probably looked, and started laughing with her. It became such a roar, Bernard was rolling on the rooftop with this girl, his stomach aching with silent laughter.

 

After what seemed like forever, Lisa finally managed to stop this strange phenomenon coming out of her. The pain was there, but it was… different. She had never really experienced laughter before; the closest encounters she had with it was the constant, witchlike cackling that taunted her through Marty’s ever-present TV. She never knew it could be a positive thing. Before she thought about it too hard, the boy propped himself up next to her and extended his hand. “Bernard, by the way.” 

“Lisa.” She wasn't sure what Bernard was doing with his hand outstretched, so she simply chalked it up to some unknown defensive technique and kept staring. Bernard took the hint and slowly drew back his hand. At this range, Lisa could take a close look at the boy who had tried so hard to speak with her. 

Lisa outstretched her arm, and started patting down the boy, much like a cat inspecting a strange object. She could tell Bernard seemed uncomfortable about this at first, but felt his muscles relax after he realized she meant no harm.  _ How could someone make themself this open?  _ She traced her finger over his hair, then gingerly ran her fingers through it, brushing it lightly to the side so she could get a good look at his eyes. He shifted a little, but didn’t protest. After a moment or two, she moved on to his hands and arms; she found the contracting muscle point in the crook of his elbow, and gave it a good push like her brother had shown her. Bernard yelped, but didn't pull back.

With a halfhearted “Sorry...” she felt a strange emotion come over her. Lisa had hurt him, and felt something hurt within herself. How could this boy be so trusting, so willing to throw caution to the wind and let her control him? Lisa traced her hand underneath his shirt and grimaced. Bernard let out a nervous joke, “H-hey… you gotta wine and dine me first.. H-heh...” but felt her mood change on the drop of a dime. Underneath the shirt were familiar bumps, which Lisa knew far too well. These kinds of bumps were only obtainable by one person hurting another. “You have these bumps, just like me…” Lisa whispered. At this point, Lisa had the most terrifying realization of all: Bernard had felt what she felt, and  _ still _ he had given his trust to her. 

Lisa gently grabbed Bernard by his forearm. “Lie down... Stay quiet,” she whispered. Putting her hand in a open fist, she carefully pushed Bernard onto the ground while gently putting her palm onto his chest. He complied without protest. Lisa could feel the rhythmic  _ thump  _ of his heartbeat _ ,  _ and compared it to her own; they were almost in sync. Finally, as if she had settled on the perfect couch to sink into, she nestled her head onto Bernard’s chest. Taking a deep breath, Lisa settled into a comfortable position, Bernard gently wrapping his free arm over her fragile body.

Bernard, up until the body inspection, was not entirely sure as to what was going on. But upon seeing her recoil at his bruises, he established a shockingly familiar connection. He understood without words. When Lisa placed her head on his chest, he almost cried because of how peaceful she looked underneath the sweet pale paper moon. Seeing her still shivering, he draped his jacket over both of them. With this, Lisa exhaled peacefully, and it almost felt like their souls had become one.

...

A few minutes of blissful silence passed, before Lisa’s voice interrupted the quiet night.

“I wish we could just run away.”

“Why not?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all folks

**Author's Note:**

> This is really self indulgent sorry everyone


End file.
